Berry

An Irish surname of Antrim and Mayo. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 132,812 people, the 222nd most common surname in the country.

Ó Béara. This family stood in Co. Mayo and Co. Offaly.

Where the name comes from

Ó Béara belonged to an Offaly family of the same race as the O'Connors and O'Dempseys, and it is a Mayo surname as well. It was written O Beara, O Berie, O Berry, Bera and Beary before Berry settled.

The Giant's Causeway at twilight with wet hexagonal basalt columns stretching to the sea and long exposure blurred waves
The Giant's Causeway, Co. Antrim

The Berry counties, photographed

Antrim

The Antrim coast road runs about 25 miles between the cliffs and the sea, with nine glens coming down to it. The rock is basalt, the same flow that formed the Giant's Causeway. Scotland is 12 miles off at the narrowest point and visible on a clear day.

The iconic Dark Hedges beech tree tunnel near Armoy in County Antrim with intertwined branches forming a brooding canopyThe Dark Hedges, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Long exposure of Pan's Rock with its footbridge at dawn on the Antrim Causeway Coast, silky water and blurred clouds, Rathlin Island on the horizonPan's Rock, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Sunrise over Colliery Bay with Fair Head cliffs and mountains, Co. Antrim, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxColliery Bay & Fair Head, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Dunluce Castle on coastal cliffs with long exposure sea, Co. Antrim, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDunluce Castle, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Black and white photograph of a rainstorm sweeping across the Skerries islands off the North Antrim coast near PortrushRainstorm, the Skerries, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim

Mayo

Achill is the largest island off the Irish coast and is joined to the mainland by a bridge. Clew Bay is full of drumlins that were drowned when the sea rose, which is where the story about an island for every day of the year comes from. Croagh Patrick stands over the south side of the bay. Mayo's population is still less than half what it was before the Famine.

Black and white view across Doo Lough towards Ben Gorm and mountains, Co. Mayo, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDoo Lough, Co. Mayo Co. Mayo Black and white view of Dun Briste sea stack from a sea cave, Co. Mayo, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDún Briste from the Cave Co. Mayo Black and white lone tree standing in bogland with the Partry Mountains behind, County MayoLone Tree, Partry Mountains, Co. Mayo Co. Mayo Black and white long exposure of Dun Briste sea stack at Downpatrick Head, Co. Mayo, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDún Briste, Downpatrick Head, Co. Mayo Co. Mayo Moonrise over Croagh Patrick at night with trees and coastal lights, Co. Mayo, Ireland, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxCroagh Patrick and Moon, Co. Mayo Co. Mayo Incoming tide flowing around rocks at Silver Strand beach at the base of Mweelrea Mountain, County MayoSilver Strand, Co. Mayo Co. Mayo

All Antrim prints · All Mayo prints

Notable bearers

Halle Berry (born 1966), actor, film director, and film producer.

Chuck Berry (1926-2017), singer, musician, and composer.

Ken Berry (1933-2018), television actor, singer, and stage actor.

Wendell Berry (1934-2026), writer, university teacher, and novelist.

Bill Berry (born 1958), film actor, television actor, and musician.

About this page

The counties on this page are where the name was thickest on the ground in Ireland a century and a half ago, not a claim about any one family. Names moved around inside the country as much as they left it. The photographs are mine, made in the counties named.

More Irish surnames: Smith · Brown · Miller · Wilson · Anderson · Thomas · Taylor · Moore · Jackson · Martin · Lee · Thompson

How common the name was

In 1890, 30 births were registered under Berry in Ireland, most of them in Antrim, Kings, and Mayo.

Ulster 12
Leinster 10
Connacht 6
Munster 2
Ireland 30

Kings is the one I haven't worked in.